Pumpkin Coconut Cake

I need you to hold on a hot minute before you start thinking about Christmas baking.

Every year requires at least one new pumpkin recipe be added to the blog, and it’s getting harder and harder to find one that catches my interest more than what I already have here. But not one to give up easily (at least when it comes to food), I’ve found one – this cake is the winner!

I am a giant fan of coconut everything, but it had never occurred to me until seeing this recipe that I could pair it with pumpkin. Genius. I didn’t change the cake much, but I did do a completely different frosting because 2 bricks of cream cheese for one 9×13 cake is more than my budget or waistline cares to consider, and that would definitely not slide past the notice of my no-cream-cheese-I-can-taste hubby.

You need to like coconut to like this cake. Otherwise stick to my pumpkin carrot cake, which I make regularly and my kids love unreservedly and first thought this was. (For the record, every single one of them liked this cake too so no one wound up disappointed.) You also want to have coconut extract handy. It is the smallest of drops you add, but it makes such a difference in tasting coconut versus just noticing some weird texture in your cake and frosting. Same deal as the bit you add to this coconut brownie extravaganza that makes all the difference.

The recipe makes a 9×13 cake, but you can also make two 8×8 pans – I did this so I could have one for dessert and freeze one for another day, and that worked great too! Or you could do two round pans and layer them up for an impressive cake tower – nothing says “I tried because I care about you” quite like a layer cake.

Thanks to the pumpkin and all those eggs this case has serious staying power, making it a great make-ahead dessert. I made it on Thursday for a Sunday dessert and it was still perfectly moist.

Every time I think I’m done finding new pumpkin recipes, I prove myself wrong. Add this one to your fall list before the pumpkins are gone!

In a larger bowl, whisk together eggs, melted coconut oil, extracts, sugars and pumpkin puree until smooth and combined.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until they are just combined, being careful not to overmix. Spread batter evenly in the greased pan. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean from the center. Let cool completely before frosting.

FROSTING: Beat butter with 1 cup of icing sugar for 30 seconds. Add remaining icing sugar, 2 Tbsp milk, and coconut and vanilla extracts. Beat until smooth, adding more milk a Tablespoon at a time, if needed, to achieve good spreading consistency. Either stir in the shredded coconut before frosting or sprinkle it on top of the frosting as a garnish.